Australian Open five quick hits: Kei's secret, Lebanon's new star and who's up next

Former world No. 4 Kei Nishikori of Japan won another five-set thriller, revealing his secret to success. Meanwhile, Lebanon celebrated a new tennis hero, and Nick Kyrgios became the focus of day two at the Australian Open. Here are five quick highlights from day two of the Australian Open.

Nishikori's Fifth-Set Secret: After a four-year absence from the Australian Open due to injury, Nishikori faced two match points against Brazilian Thiago Monteiro. Despite this, the 35-year-old veteran ultimately prevailed with a hard-fought victory, 4-6, 6-7(4/7), 7-5, 6-2, 6-3. "I almost forgot I was facing two match points," he said afterward. His record in five-set matches is now 29-8, and 8-1 in five-set matches at the Australian Open, including a victory over Roger Federer. When asked about his energy reserves, he laughed and said, "I ate a lot of sushi."

Lebanese Top Player Makes History: Before this Australian Open, no Lebanese male player had ever won a set in a Grand Slam main draw. In fact, they had never even entered the main draw of a men's singles event. However, qualifier Hady Habib, a 29-year-old born in Texas, rewrote history against China's world No. 65 Bu Yunchaokete. World No. 219 Habib won the first set 7-6(7/4), then took the second set 6-4, and finally won the third set 7-6(8/6), bringing an exciting victory to Lebanese fans.

Casper Proposes and Encourages Other Players to Follow Suit: During the short off-season, romance filled the tennis world. In addition to Alex de Minaur proposing to Katie Boulter, Casper Ruud also got down on one knee and successfully proposed to Maria Galligani. After winning his five-set match against world No. 62 Jaume Munar, Ruud encouraged other players to do the same. "When you get down on one knee, your heart rate goes up, it’s a beautiful moment. I will never forget playing Rafa in a Grand Slam final, but I certainly won't forget proposing to Maria. That was a more important moment," Ruud said on the court. "There are some young guys who have been in relationships for a long time, and I’ve been teasing them. I hope they do something for their girlfriends."

Rain Disrupts Opening Day: No one likes rain disrupting play, and there were certainly complaints on-site when rain caused a nearly six-hour suspension of matches on the outside courts. Records show that more than 30 millimeters of rain fell, and thunderstorms spread around the courts, with play not resuming until around 6:30 pm Australian Eastern Time. 55,704 people attended on the first day, but 8 out of 32 matches were cancelled, undoubtedly frustrating the spectators. Event organizers will use the buffer of the Sunday start, first introduced last year, to reschedule these matches over the next two days.

Which Australian Players Competed Today?: A total of 12 local players competed on day two of the Australian Open, including Nick Kyrgios, who was playing his first Australian Open singles match in three years. Here are the players, locations, and times (all in Australian Eastern Time): Wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic will play against American Ashlyn Krueger at 11:30 am on Margaret Court Arena, followed by 27th seed Jordan Thompson against German qualifier Dominik Koepfer. At 4 pm on John Cain Arena, 18-year-old wildcard Maya Joint will make her debut at her home Grand Slam event against 7th seed Jessica Pegula. After that, Nick Kyrgios will begin his match against British player Jacob Fearnley at 6 pm. Thanasi Kokkinakis will play against Russian Roman Safiullin in the third match on Kia Arena, followed by Christopher O'Connell against 12th seed American Tommy Paul. Wildcard Talia Gibson will be the first to play on Court 3 at 11 am against Turkish player Zeynep Sonmez, followed by James Duckworth against Swiss player Dominic Stricker. Qualifier Destanee Aiava will play the final match of the day on Court 3 against Belgian Greet Minnen. Men's wildcards James McCabe and Tristan Schoolkate will play the second and third matches on Courts 6 and 7 respectively. Aleksandar Vukic will play against Damir Dzumhur at 1:30 pm on Court 13, a match rescheduled from Sunday.